The “Living with No Dryer” Laundry Survival Guide

March 25, 2018

Moving away to Europe is the first time that many people discover that not everyone has a dryer. Practically all classical apartments in Budapest come with washing machines – but not all have dryers. And while our washing machine is much smaller than we had in Canada, we’ve adjusted our loads according. But living with no dryer is much more frustrating.

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Crunchy Towels are No Bueno

Seriously, nothing is worse than a line-dried towel. They are disgustingly crunchy. I hate crunchy. Who wants to fiercely exfoliate your body on a chilly winter morning? You want to be wrapped up in warm, soft, caress like a cuddly bunny. You do not want to feel like you’ve been scraped by a sidewalk after falling off your bike.

As a child I remember my mother occasionally line drying on a summer’s day – I hated those towels too. I would always dig down to the bottom of the pile in the linen closet in hopes of finding something softer.

This may work fine for clothes, but not for my towels.

Things I’ve Tried for Fluffy Towels

Like any normal person, I searched Google for “how to get fluffy towels with no dryer”. I found a bunch of suggestions:

Add vinegar in the final rinse

Wash towels at 40 degrees

Use half the detergent amount

Don’t use fabric softener

Do use fabric softener

Only do a very small load

Shake towels vigorously before hanging to dry

Bottom line: none of these really worked. I still continued to have crispy towels – only now they smelled slightly pickled.

The Solution

The solution is shocking obvious – use a dryer! This means a trip to to local coin laundry. For us this is the Wash Point Kávézó & Mosoda. Located near Kálvin Ter in District 9, this is the best one I have ever been to. Ok, so, maybe I haven’t actually been to a lot of coin laundry places, but this place is awesome.

We continue to wash and line dry our clothes at home, but we always take towels and linens to Wash Point.

Wash Point Kávézó & Mosoda

As the name implies, this is not just a laundromat, but a coffee house too. You can find the coffee house at street level and the laundry in the basement. Watch your towels spin around while sipping on a latte and enjoying a sandwich.

The surroundings are impeccably clean and comfortable. They have free wi-fi, a kid’s corner and cool music videos playing on a TV. Additionally, they are open every day of the year from 7 am until midnight. We tend to go in the mornings around 10am and always find machines to use.

How Much for Laundry Softness?

Each load – a wash or a dry – costs 1000 HUF (about $5 CDN). You can pay by card or cash. All instructions are in Hungarian and English. The best part? You don’t need to worry about bringing detergent – its automatically dispensed in the wash.

If you live around this area, I highly recommend Wash Point for a enjoyable experience whilst performing boring laundry chores.

How about you? Any other tips or tricks for me to try? Do you know of a great laundry service perhaps? Do you iron your sheets (asking for a friend)?

Funny, I have never had much of a problem with this. Have used the commercial brands of fabric softener that you buy at Rossmann or Auchan, but all with little to no problem. (notice that many people here overuse their fabric softeners as you can easily smell the industrial aroma this on fellow passengers on the crowded metro and buses) Two thoughts: if you live in an older building then it could be your old pipes that supply really hard water. In this case you may have to use a separate powdered water softener. The other thing is try a really good thick towel from Ikea. That’s what we normally buy and haven’t had a problem. But then again, neither have I had a problem with the ones I brought over from JCPenneys.

You’re just lucky that these coin-op laundromats only started popping up about four years ago. (only expats thought there was a need, locals thought it was a crazy idea since everyone had a washer) There was only maybe two or three in the entire city before then. You may check out MosóMedve on Lágymányosi in District XI as they seemed to be the first. As for laundry services, Four Seasons used to offer theirs amazingly enough. Not certain if they still do. But the one I used to use was Vajnóczki Tisztítószalon which is near the Oktogon. And yes, we do iron our sheets, our t-shirts, our jeans.

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